Icy Heart: Snakes of Ice
by LordEvan
Summary: The first year is over, and Harry and his friends continue their plotting. Strange things start happening in Hogwarts, waht does this mean? Dumbledore watches and Harry struggles in a completely new game of intrigue and not only slytherin politics. Intelligent, manipulative, elemental and evil Harry. Manipulative, but still not that bad Dumbledore. Sequel to Icy Heart. AU, WBWL(?)
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, but I am not going to say it more than once. Firstly, it is sad, and secondly, I do not like repeating myself.**

 **Many thanks to VocalAurora for beta-reading this chapter**

* * *

 **Icy Heart: Snakes of Ice**

Chapter 1. Summer at the Dursleys'

Harry Potter woke up early this morning. He returned to this wretched place he had lived in only yesterday. Today was going to be a very important day. He stood up and went to the bathroom. After a quick shower Harry went down to the dining room, where the Dursleys were already having breakfast. They glared at him. Harry rolled his eyes and decided that a mediocre breakfast was not worth spoiling his good mood. After all, he was going to a very special place today. He might as well have breakfast in a café.

So, that was what Harry did. He found a lovely little café in muggle London, not too far from the Leakey Cauldron. One might ask, why not have your meal there instead of some muggle café? The answer would be simple: Harry didn't want to attract the attention of wizards and witches. After all, people might just start gossiping about a lonely child going to Diagon Alley. Harry was pretty sure that his appearance was pretty average, but someone might just recognize James Potter's features – you never know who you might meet.

After a small breakfast and a cup of tea, Harry made his way to the Leakey Cauldron. He donned his new invisibility cloak just before opening the door to the pub. He was already hidden from muggles by the wards, so no worries about the Statute of Secrecy.

Entering Diagon Alley wasn't hard. After all, witches and wizards are always so busy, they don't even pay attention to doors randomly opening and closing. After tapping a special combination of bricks, Diagon Alley in all its glory was revealed to Harry. He grinned. He went to a familiar white building.

Gringotts wasn't Harry's destination, however. After all, he still had a wallet, connected to his trust vault. The building itself, however, separated Diagon Alley in two. One branch was a continuation of said Alley, but another was an entirely different matter. It was called Knockturn Alley.

Knockturn Alley was a very dark place. Dark wizards had free reign there, very few aurors ever delved there, and if they did, they went in groups. Many very interesting shops were located in that alley. Harry was only interested in one at the moment. He stopped as he reached the bank and looked at himself.

Black jeans, green shirt and black jacket. That wouldn't do for a visit to Knockturn Alley. First, he would be recognized; second, muggle clothes would basically paint a target on his back for every blood purist, of which there were many in that place. No, he had to visit Madam Malkin's first.

"Hello dear." said a sales associate as soon as Harry came in. That form of address did annoy him. He sent a dozen of upper year students to the infirmary for no short periods of time; he was not a "dear". There was, however, no need to lash out. Making people underestimate oneself always helped.

"Good morning." Harry replied neutrally. "I am in need of a hooded cloak. Black in color please."

"Very well," the associate said, "look over there," she pointed at one of the corners of the shop, "we have a nice assortment of cloaks."

"Thank you." Harry replied.

Ten minutes and ten galleons later, Harry stood in front of Gringotts in his new black cloak that covered his body perfectly. The hood had obscuring charms on it, and the cloak itself was charmed to not allow any tracking spells to attach themselves to its owner. Harry turned to the left and went straight to the heart of Knockturn Alley.

xxx

Knockturn Alley wasn't just a dark place. It was a very dark place, literally and otherwise. Harry was glad there were lanterns, they allowed him to see further than ten steps before him.

The shops, however, were quite wonderful. Ritual shop. Obscure book store. Ingredient shops with things Harry had never even seen. However, Harry soon paid for letting his guard down with all the excitement.

"What is a little child doing in this place?" a voice croaked behind him. It was high-pitched and extremely obnoxious. "Have you lost your mommy?"

Harry turned around and saw a very ugly old witch. He frowned, though nobody noticed it –courtesy of the obscuring charms on his hood. Harry looked the witch over. She didn't strike him as powerful, probably just saw a child and thought he an easy prey. Boy, was she in for a rude awakening.

"None of your business." Harry stated calmly, but firmly.

"Come with me, child, I shall bring you back to Diagon Alley." The witch said, grabbing Harry's hand. He quickly used his elemental abilities, and ice covered his and the witches legs, effectively stopping them from moving.

"That was a mistake." Harry said coldly.

"What?" the witch stuttered in surprise. That was when she saw two icy-blue orbs glowing under the hood. She shrieked as a swirl of snowflakes cut off her hand that was holding Harry and then promptly turned said appendage into a pool of red goo.

"I can slice you until your meat and bone become nothing more than a powder." Harry hissed. "Don't you know that children do not wear cloaks with obscuring charms in Knockturn Alley, filth?" Ah, finally the woman's left hand went to retrieve her wand, but before she could do anything, her body was assaulted by a small blizzard of thousands of snowflakes. After a minute, her entire body was turned into a red pool of mash. Harry looked at the blood stain on his shoulder, where the witch grabbed him. Did she have to bleed over his cloak? He shook his head and continued to search for a wand shop, fully on guard.

After half an hour of search, Harry had finally found it. The shop itself was dark, like every other building in the alley. The shop's window was made of dark wood and grey glass. The sign read "Zaubermann's Custom-Made Wands". Harry shrugged and stepped inside.

"Hm, a powerful young man steps inside my shop." Harry looked for a source of the voice and found a man sitting behind the counter. He was rather tall, his hair was grey and his face wrinkled. His posture and mannerisms could only be described as stiff. Like, McGonagall stiff. "And why would he come here? Surely he wouldn't want to break the law by having a custom-made trace-free wand made for him?"

"Of course not." Harry smirked. For a moment, he thought that the man was using Legilimency, but then realized that it would be impossible without eye contact. "Wait," he looked under the counter, "I think you have dropped this pouch." Harry said, smiling sweetly as he placed a rather large pouch, full of galleons, in front of the man.

"Good day, Mr…?" the seller asked.

"Schwarz." Harry supplied. Well, he did learn a couple of German words during his stay at Hogwarts, why not use them, especially since the name of the shop is so obviously of German origin? The man raised an eyebrow, but Harry's face did not change.

"Very well, Mr. Schwarz." the man said. "My name is Klaus Zaubermann. Thank you for returning this pouch, I was looking for these galleons for so long… Anyway, would you like some tea, Mr. Schwarz? Then follow me to the basement."

Harry followed Klaus to the basement of the shop, where he saw rows upon rows of drawers.

"Well, let your magic flow freely." Zaubermann instructed. "It will guide you to the materials needed for your wand."

After doing just that Harry felt multiple tingles in multiple directions. He decided to follow the strongest tingle. It led him to a drawer with label 'Elder'. 'Huh, wand of elder. Nice.' Harry thought and grabbed a piece of the wood. He focused on other tingles.

Fifteen minutes later Harry stood in front of Zaubermann, various pieces of wood and core materials lying between them on a table. Zaubermann looked the table over and raised an eyebrow.

"Interesting." Zaubermann mused. "Elder, Cherry, Ebony for main body of the wand. Dragon heartstring, Dementor's breath, and frozen star essence for cores…" the wandmaker appeared to be thoughtfull. "Mr. Schwarz, I think I can combine all the cores in your wand, but not woods. You should chose only one type. What reacts to you the most?"

"Cherry." Harry replied almost instantly. He thought that elder had the strongest pull, but then he understood that cherry was simply in one of the more distant drawers and its pull was disrupted by many other pieces of wood. Zaubermann nodded.

"Very well. Your wand will be ready in a week, Mr. Schwarz." the man smiled. "I will not add the Trace to it. Would you like me to add any other modifications to it?"

"Additional modifications?" Harry asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Yes." Zaubermann smiled. "Runes, gems, metals?"

"What would they do?" Harry asked. Zaubermann sighed, muttering about crappy education and ignorant brats.

"What would you like them to do?" Zaubermann sighed. "Enhance the wand's response to certain elements, branch of magic or perhaps something more general, like easy draw, or anti-summoning wards?"

"Anti-summoning ward for sure." Harry replied. "Maybe something to enhance its performance with ice magic?"

"Chalcedony, aquamarine, diamond." Zaubermann replied. "Without metals."

"Good." Harry nodded. "I would like all those modifications. The gems… Well, I would like them hidden inside the wand, not on display." He finished.

"Very well, it will take a week to construct." Zaubermann said. "The whole thing will cost you one thousand galleons."

"Good." Harry replied. "Inside that pouch I gave you there are five hundred. I will pay the rest upon completion." Zaubermann nodded. "Actually," Harry said as the pair reached the foyer of the shop, "if theoretically, a friend of mine wanted to learn some dark magic, where would you recommend him to go?"

"That's one dark friend you have." Zaubermann smirked. "Borgin and Burkes if you want something of local origin, Schwarz&Schwarz if you want something more exotic."

"Thank you." Harry smirked in return. "My friend will no doubt be very grateful."

"He is welcome, Mr. Schwarz." Zaubermann replied.

"Good day, Mr. Zaubermann." Harry said.

"Good day, Mr. Schwarz." The wandmaker replied.

xxx

"What do you want here, brat?" A raw voice distracted Harry from browsing a bookshelf on various branches of dark magic. "Go find your parents before you destroy something."

"Silence." Harry said, not even turning around. He took out another pouch and demonstrated it. "I am a customer, or does Schwarz&Schwarz shop have no need of customers?"

"No, of course not." the same voice replied. Harry didn't need to turn to feel greed emanating from the owner of the voice. He hid the pouch under his cloak again and returned to browsing the bookshelf.

"Dark Creatures and Their Properties…" Harry mused as he looked at the title of the book. 'Might be useful…' He took it. "Unforgivables". A book with this name caught Harry's attention. The grin on his face could have frightened anybody – as it was, nobody saw it. 'Bingo!' He took this book as well. "Influence One's Will" brought another frightening grin. 'This is certainly a jack pot!'

Three books in his hands, Harry walked from books to artifacts. There were so many, and they were all so different. Egyptian artifacts, Celtic artifacts, Sumerian, European, Roman, Norse – it was amazing! Harry grinned evilly under his hood. Now he just had to find something interesting in there.

A special necklace caught Harry's attention. Harry carefully picked the necklace up and inspected it closely. It was covered in runes. Harry couldn't even guess the origin of these runes – they weren't like any that he had seen. They were like cracks.

"I am sorry to disturb you," Harry told the seller, "but could you tell me about this artifact?"

"This?" the man glanced at the necklace and frowned. "I actually can't tell you anything about it. We don't know what these runes mean, hell, we can't even identify them. The only thing I can tell though is that it was found in the Atlantic Ocean, deep underwater. We don't even know what the thing does."

The runes seemed familiar, like Harry either saw or was supposed to know them already. They called out to him. The necklace felt warm, even though it was made of some translucent metal-like crystal.

"I'll take it." Harry said. The seller looked at him oddly.

"One hundred and fifty galleons for the necklace and three hundred galleons for books, so four hundred and fifty galleons in total." The man said. Harry nodded and paid, before swiftly leaving.

xxx

When Harry returned home, he was met by Imperious, sitting on a windowsill in his room. Harry smiled and petted the bird.

"Have a nice flight?" He asked. Imperious nodded. Harry grinned. "Good, sorry that I didn't use you much at Hogwarts. You did fly from time to time, did you not?" The bird nodded again. "I should write to Theo and Blaise."

The next hour was dedicated to writing letters to his friends. Harry explained, albeit very vaguely, what he was up to these last two days and his plans for summer. In the end Harry asked both Theo and Blaise if their parents were giving them trouble for being friends with him.

xxx

Two weeks after his visit to Knockturn Alley, Harry was sitting in his room. It was surrounded by a silencing ward and the door was protected by both evasion and notice-me-not wards. Harry toyed with the idea of adding a muggle-repelling ward, but decided against it. After all, muggle-repelling wards were not created for the use on small area. It would cover the whole house, had Harry actually used it. As amusing as it would be to not let Vernon, Petunia or Dudley into their own home, they were very likely to tell everything to the Potters afterwards. That would be as unpleasant as things could get.

So now, Harry was undisturbed and out of reach of the Dursleys, and so he was testing his new wand. It was wonderful. Cherry was really Harry's wood, but dragon heartstring didn't actually represent Harry. Sure it did represent his desire for power and his inner strength, but that wasn't everything there was to Harry's personality. In the new wand, there were also Dementor's breath - the residual energy of death left around a person kissed by a Dementor - and frozen star essence. Harry wasn't sure about the lest ingredient, though. He had never encountered this term – "frozen star essence". He had to find something about it. Anyway, this wand was working perfectly for Harry. It enabled him to go through his Dark Arts books with frightening speed.

Just then, Imperious flew into the room with two letters attached to his right leg. Harry smiled slightly and took the letters, after which Imperious puffed his chest and went to sleep on his new perch that Harry bought in Diagon Alley when he went to collect his new wand.

 _"Hello, Harry_

 _I am alright. Our vacation in France is going splendidly. My parents objected to our friendship at first, but after I told them about your power and skill, they relented. I didn't tell them any of our plans for Slytherin hous,e though. Neither did I tell them about your special… abilities._

 _Anyway, how is your summer? Did you find a way around the Trace? If yes, then do you practice on muggles? How about we all – you, Blaise, and I, that is - meet in Diagon Alley on August 13th? We can catch up and just plot a little._

 _Cheers,_

 _Theo."_

Blaise's letter was somewhat similar, though Blaise wrote that he had already agreed to meeting on August 13th. Harry wondered if he should tell his friends, that he was really not just a second best Potter but heir to the Ancient House of Black, but in the end decided against it. It would not do for somebody to know anything before he took his family seat on the Wizengamot – no need for there to be prepared parties. Harry was going to enter the wizarding parliament on his own terms.

He did of course read everything there was on the Unforgivables in that book he bought in Schwarz&Schwarz, but he dared not use them. In all honesty, Harry didn't like two of the three unforgivables. Harry didn't really like killing, for him it was just another tool. When everything else fails, use death, but he couldn't bring himself to wish death onto somebody for the sake of killing them. Righteous anger wouldn't work, that much was written in the book. The same could be said about the Cruciatus curse. It was so barbaric. Why would Harry need to torture one for the sake of torturing someone? If he ever wanted information out of somebody's unwilling mouth, he would just use Veritaserum or Legilimency, when he learned it.

The Imperius curse, though – that was a useful spell in Harry's book. Taking control of anyone. The possibilities! What was important, he did have very strong desire to control, so he expected this particular Unforgivable be exceptionally strong when cast by himself. Practicing it, though, was out of the question. The Ministry no doubt had many monitoring devices in that fancy dungeon of theirs that are always looking out for the Unforgivables. Harry sighed' he would have to wait until Hogwarts started.

On the brighter note, Harry had read all three books he had bought in Knockturm Alley, and he really liked Dark creatures, especially Dementors. These creatures actually sucked all happiness from their surroundings and instilled pure fear into the hearts of those unfortunate enough to be in their immediate vicinity. And, of course, one would like to know about the creature that had helped to create his wand.

Compulsion charms were also a gold mine. Harry grinned. Until this summer he had only known the most basic compulsion charm, one that was very easy to detect and wore out very quickly. Now though, there were ten compulsion charms in his arsenal, many of them for different occasions and circumstances. Harry could even create a compulsion carcass around a human. That would allow him to dictate the very basics of his victim's personality. The spell was draining and rather difficult to use, but it was well worth it. Harry actually created compulsion carcasses around his aunt, uncle and cousin. He made them nice citizens, who took part in different charities and didn't like but respected their nephew. Each time he remembered how much of a success that had been, Harry would laugh.

One of the best parts about this carcass was the fact that it was just that – a carcass. It didn't conflict with other compulsion charms, it integrated them into itself, changing their program in a way that would suit the carcass's program. And it was more or less permanent. Here you go – a legal version of the Imperius curse.

Not everything was so good, however. These idiots Dursleys told everyone who would listen, that Harry went to some ridiculous school for young criminals. Well, when Harry learned about it, he made his relatives go and tell everybody who would listen that they lied and Harry actually went to a private school in Scotland. The Dursleys' reputation in the neighborhood was in ruins, while Harry was actually made into a martyr. Of course, there were some people, who were suspicious, but they provided very good practice dummies for Harry's compulsion charms. Yes, compulsion charms were definitely a success!

After mastering compulsion charms, Harry started reading the books on Charms that Flitwick gave him. They were actually quite interesting. This time there was not only theory, but some new spells, which Harry used. There were also some tips on silent spellcasting. Right now, Harry was trying to create a dicta-quill. It was fourth year material, but it wasn't all that hard, however. Harry didn't get the spell yet, but he was pretty sure that he was close.

Occlumency was progressing nicely. Harry noticed that the necklace he bought was calming him. It helped him center himself and form his core. To Harry's great shock, he even managed to make the core transparent, ethereal, and now he was working on making the limbo of unimportant memories more substantial and more noticeable.

Suddenly Harry was yanked from his mindscape rather violently. He opened is eyes and groaned. Being forcefully pulled from one's mindscape is never pleasant. He looked around the room, hoping to find the source of current problem. To his surprise, his trunk was shaking. Harry took his untraceable wand and cautiously opened the trunk. One of the compartments was glowing. Harry looked inside. The source of the glow was the book on the elementals. The snowflake on its cover were shining sky-blue. Harry opened the book and was pleasantly surprised. It had new entries.

 _Contents:_

 _1\. History of ice elementals and Castle Polaris_

 _2\. Ice Occlumency_

 _3\. Taking control of one's abilities, easiest techniques_

 _(Next is some gibberish)_

Harry anxiously turned the pages back to introduction. To his disappointment, the sentence after the introduction by one of the masters of Castle Polaris was still gibberish. Apparently his Occlumency still wasn't good enough.

"Damn." Harry swore. He sighed. "Oh well, I still have three chapters to read." With that thought, Harry turned the page with a splitting grin.


	2. Chapter 2 Talks

Chapter 2. Talks

It was July 30th, and Harry had just woken up. He rubbed his eyes and looked at the clock. It was 11 am. He had stayed up till very late night, reading the book on elementals. His Occlumency was progressing nicely, and so new entries were appearing in the book every day.

Sitting up on his bed, Harry thought that he had forgotten something. He didn't know why though. Harry looked at the calendar and gasped. It was July 30th, this was the day the Potters were going to collect him from the Dursleys.

"Accio trunk." Harry said as he took his wand. A trunk slid out from under the bed. Another wave of Harry's wand opened it. It took a wave around the room for every belonging Harry had to go to the trunk, to the right compartment. In the end just four books remained: the book on elementals and the other three that he bought a month ago in Knockturn Alley. Harry looked at them, contemplating. He decided to hide them in one of the compartments. The Potters certainly didn't need to know anything.

Sighing, Harry stood up and went to the shower. Luckily, thanks to compulsion nets, his relatives didn't bother him at all. Another half an hour later, once dressed, Harry was finishing his breakfast when the doorbell rang.

"Who is it?" Vernon asked curiously. "There were no charities planned for today, were there, Petunia?"

"No, honey." Petunia replied after a second of thought. "Harry," she said crisply, her lips thinning much like McGonagall's, "please, open the door."

"Yes, Petunia." Harry sighed. Internally, he was grinning, his compulsion carcasses were working splendidly and no one who didn't live with the Dursleys before would be able to tell the difference (well, aside from the charities, but Harry only added this to his compulsion carcass to spite this family of whales).

Before opening the door, Harry was careful to hide his untraceable wand, his true wand, he decided to call it, in the holster he bought from Zaubermann. It was invisible and untraceable as well, so that no monitoring charm could detect it. The other cherry wand was in his jeans pocket. Harry sighed and opened the door, having a very good idea who was knocking.

"Hello, Harry." Lily said softly. Harry's face turned blank.

"Good afternoon." Harry replied icily. "I presume you are here to collect me?"

"Yes, Harry." James replied carefully. "Are you ready?"

"Let me get my trunk." Harry said and went upstairs.

In his room Harry saw Imperius, who was sitting on a perch and looking at his master questioningly. Harry walked to the table, where he took three letters and gave them to Imperius.

"Deliver them for me, please." Harry said softly, stroking the eagle's head. "One is for Theo, one for Blaise and another for Neville Longbottom. Don't wait for replies." Imperius screeched indignantly. "Oh yes, how could I presume that you would wait for a reply?" Harry chuckled. Imperius grabbed the letters and flew away, giving his master a stern look. Harry just continued chuckling. He sighed and grabbed his trunk. It was supposed to be very heavy, but the trunk was charmed to be as light as a feather, so without any problem Harry walked downstairs, where the Potters were waiting for him.

"Alright," James said. "Let me help you." Harry gave the trunk to James, who motioned to the rest of the family to follow him.

"Goodbye, Aunt, Uncle." Harry said emotionlessly. "I will see you next summer."

Petunia just huffed, but nodded in the end. Harry smirked while no one could see and followed James to the car. It was a nice, expensive and business-looking car, pitch-black in color. Harry sat in the back, holding back a smirk. The neighbors were no doubt already gossiping about the expensive car. How predictable.

The road to Potter manor was quiet; the Potters seemed to have learned their lesson. However Lily was glancing longingly at Harry from time to time, and Eric spent most of the ride glaring at him. Harry was just thankful that James was driving and could not be distracted from the road.

At last they arrived to the gates. Harry expected James to stop before them, but the man just continued driving. Lily and Eric seemed perfectly fine despite the prospect of them crushing into the iron gates. When Harry was about to panic, the car collided with the gates. However, metal turned into black mist and the car passed straight through it and onto the grounds of the manor. Harry breathed a barely noticeable sigh of relief. The car, in the meantime, stopped in front of a large building.

The manor itself was Victorian. Harry liked Victorian architecture, so he took a second to admire it. The building was three floors high and built from bricks. The windows were big and spacy. Chimneys rose here and there, and Harry spotted several miniature towers.

"The manor is actually several centuries old. It was rebuilt in the XIX century by my great-great-grandfather, Edward Potter." James said when he spotted his elder son admiring the scenery.

"Thank you." Harry said neutrally.

"It's nothing." James replied awkwardly. He sighed. "Harry, I have to apologize." Harry raised an eyebrow.

"What for?" he asked.

"For that howler." James said. "I had no right to say these words to you… It's just, you being placed in Slytherin was a shock to me. I acted without thinking."

Harry thought for a second. The man actually looked sincere enough, and he was glad that James stopped hiding behind Lily's skirt and apologized to him in person. And yet, deep-rooted resentment prevented him from warming up to this family. They haven't even apologized for abandoning him. They all behaved like it was the right thing to do! That made Harry's insides boil. However, he concealed his emotions and presented a blank face to James.

"Apology accepted." he said neutrally, not looking at James.

"A-alright." James managed to smile. "Let's go to your room, shall we?"

"Indeed." Harry nodded and followed his father inside the manor.

The halls of Potter Manor were beautiful. As much as Harry resented his family, he could not deny that his ancestors had wonderful taste. The walls were covered with panels of dark wood, the floor and the ceiling were made of the same wood, and crystal chandeliers hung, illuminating everything with their warm light. Numerous fireplaces were in almost every room. Family heirlooms were exhibited in the halls, as well as old tapestries.

Harry's room was decorated in the same manner as the rest of the house. Half of every wall was covered by wooden panels and another half by navy-blue wallpaper. A large window provided wonderful view of the grounds, heavy navy-blue curtains framed it. To the right from the entrance stood a four-poster bed, to the left Harry saw a white fireplace without a fire. Above the fireplace was a painting of a castle and a dragon. On either side from fireplace he saw two doors. Curious, Harry opened it and saw a bathroom. He shrugged and went back to the bedroom to examine another door. It turned out to be a walk-in closet. It was empty. Harry took out his unregistered wand. He pointed it at the trunk and it opened.

"Accio." Harry said, pointing at his clothes. When they started floating towards him, Harry pointed his wand at various shelves and hangers. Half a minute later Harry's clothes were neatly organized inside his new wardrobe. He smiled and hid his wand. And not a moment too soon, as at that very moment the door opened and Lily walked into the room.

"Harry, dinner is about to begin." she said. Harry nodded and followed her to the dining room. Like the rest of the manor, the room was wonderfully decorated. In the center stood a large rectangular table for at least a dozen people. James sat at the head and Eric sat to his right, like an heir should. Lily took seat to James's left and Harry was supposed to sit near his brother. He didn't really like it, but he wasn't going to complain. Resentment is one thing, but being polite and following tradition was a completely different matter. So, sighing, Harry took his seat. The dinner appeared on the table at that very moment, and the family started eating.

"So, Eric, Harry, how was your school year?" James asked after he finished his soup.

"It was cool." Eric replied. "Snape is a git, but at least I made friends with Ron and Hermione."

"Well, Snivellus has never been nice." James chuckled, then he looked at his elder son. "Sorry, Harry." Said boy just raised an eyebrow.

"You are right." Harry said simply. "He isn't nice by any stretch of imagination. Snape is just a manipulator wannabe." He wanted to say "short-sighted fool", but thought better of it.

"Well, he was quite nice to me…" Lily said. That piqued Harry's attention, though on the outside it looked like he was busy with his meal.

"Until your fifth year." James retorted. Lily shrugged. "Anyways, how was your year, Harry?" James changed the topic. "I heard you're at the top."

"I am." Harry nodded. Dishes changed. Instead of soup, many varieties of meat and side dishes appeared. Harry helped himself to a modest serving of chicken.

"Did you make any friends?" Lily asked, trying to maintain the conversation.

"I did." Harry said shortly.

"They're Death Eaters!" Eric shouted. "Nott and Zabini!" James gasped, but Lily elbowed him right in time, before he opened his mouth.

"Eric," James said carefully, "I wouldn't accuse children just because their parents are… were suspected Death Eaters." To the adults' confusion Harry flashed them an amused smile.

"By the way, boys," Lily said with a nervous smile, "I've been waiting to tell you – Potter manor has wards that make the Trace useless. You can practice magic here!"

"That's so cool!" Eric said and drew his wand immediately. "Wingardium Leviosa!" he said, pointing his wand at the teacup. The teacup floated in the air. The boy waited nervously for five minutes, but no owl came. A grin appeared on Eric's face. Harry, who was watching his brother, nodded.

"Harry, don't you want to try?" Lily asked. Harry looked at her for a second.

"Not exactly." he replied. "Although, I am finished with my dinner. Might as well start reading." Harry drew his wand. "Accio 'Advanced Transfiguration Grade 3'," he said. The book flew into his hand half a minute later.

Nobody noticed Harry using his new wand instead of his old one. That was understandable though, his first and second wands were almost identical. The only difference was a simple ring of wood that separated handle from the wand itself on the new wand, whereas the old wand had none. Otherwise the wands were identical. Nodding to himself, Harry stood up and thanked his parents for dinner. After this he casually strode to the library, ignoring slightly gobsmacked expressions of his parents and a frown on his brother's face.

xxx

It was his second night at Potter Manor. Harry locked his door and put up a proximity ward – no need to allow anybody catch him by surprise. The trunk was open and two items were put on Harry's bed while the boy in question was looking at them contemplatively. The first was a book with a snowflake on the cover and the second was a small blood-red stone.

'What to do with you?' Harry thought, looking at the stone. 'One of the most powerful artifacts in my hands… Flamel is going to die now, if I don't return it.' He paused. 'Do I even want to return it?' Harry asked himself. 'If I don't I will have the Elixir of Life and endless supply of gold. If I do, I will have a favor from Flamel – a very good thing.' He mused. 'And yet, why was Flamel so sure that the stone was well-protected? He can't trust Dumbledore that much… If someone can see past the man's grandfatherly persona, it is Nicholas Flamel. In that case, why was he so confident?' That question bothered Harry greatly. 'Nicholas Flamel has lived for six centuries. He has to have loads of experience. Anyone would become a master strategist in six hundred years of trying to protect the stone… That's it! He's been protecting the stone for six centuries. No one, not even Voldemort was able to steal or take it away by force. Why give it up now? I don't see Flamel agreeing to sacrifice his life for Eric Potter's test or even a trap for Voldemort. Could it be… that the stone is fake?' Harry's eyes widened. 'Calm down,' he thought. 'Don't jump to conclusions. There is always something you don't know. I need to meet with Flamel. I either return him the real stone and gain a favor from him, or return a fake but still look good in his eyes… It's basically a win-win situation.' Harry nodded, he would have to write a letter to Nicholas Flamel. He took the stone and put it back into his trunk, hiding it beneath clothes.

"Now, you." Harry whispered, picking up his book on ice elementals. He opened it on Ice Occlumency section. He managed to somehow complete his Liquid Occlumency, there was still room for improvements, but Harry decided to at least have a look at the Ice Occlumency – it could be useful.

"ICE OCCLUMENCY

1\. History

Mind arts were created by one of the old families, that is now extinct – Reyars, namely Salazar Reyar is famous for creation of the "Legilimence" spell. His son managed to create Occlumency – the art of defending one's mind. All of this happened during the times of the Roman Republic, when most wizards of Europe lived in Rome.

Occlumency became known to masses only in year 101 B.C., when Romuus Reyar released one of his books to public. It basically taught the reader the three forms of Occlumency known today: Basic, Mindscape and Liquid Occlumency. Since then none of these techniques have been changed or improved. The Reyar family was exceptionally old even during the time of Salazar Reyar, since their family originated in Mesopotamia around y. 4000 B.C., since then the family studied the human body and then mind mind. Nobody was, and nobody still is, able to rival their knowledge in these areas.

Back to the topic, though, the Reyars only released their weakest techniques. For example, everyone knows that the Reyars had their own Universe-type Occlumency, exclusive only to the highest members of the Reyar family. But nobody knows anything about this particular type of Occlumency aside from its name.

Elementals were already in hiding by the time mind arts became public knowledge. We proposed an exchange to the Reyars. They help us invent an Occlumency type that would work with only elemental magic and we would give them knowledge of our spells and techniques. They agreed and helped each elemental community, giving incredible amounts of knowledge in return. That is how Ice Occlumency appeared.

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the Reyars, like most Roman witches and wizards, moved to Britain – the only calm part of Europe at the time, despite all the conflicts between local tribes.

Unfortunatlyy, the last Lord Reyar – Oliver – died in y. 1263 of old age, leaving Eric – the elder of his twin sons – as the heir. His younger brother Roderick did not like his father's decision, and in the end the brothers killed each other. Since then no one was able to find Reyar Castle, that contained the entire legendary Reyar library.

2\. Ice occlumency

Ice Occlumency can only work for an Ice Elemental – let this be a warning to anyone, who contemplates teaching it to any ordinary wizard or masters of other elements.

This technique was developed by Tiberius Reyar and Decimus Cornelii – leader of Ice Elementals at the time – in y. 71 B.C. The technique basically allows any Ice Elemental use his powers in his mind. For example – one can surround his memories with vicious hail of inconsequential or even false memories. The particulars will be explained later."

'Interesting.' Harry mused. He didn't expect a history lesson. He didn't know history of the wizarding world all that well. In fact, he did not know that British wizarding society is for all intents and purposes a continuation of Roman wizarding society. 'No wonder Hogwarts is the best wizarding school there is, it has three thousand years of knowledge! Maybe even more, considering that many truly ancient families like Reyars came to Rome, especially after the Roman Empire was established. This is big.' Harry whispered. He promised to read more on wizarding history later. Right now, he had a whole section of the book to read. He shrugged and continued reading.

xxx

The ext morning Imperius came back. Harry smiled at his companion. "Hello there, Imperius," he said. The eagle only crooked his head to the side. "I already have some work for you." Harry said, taking a letter in a thick envelope from his table. "Can you deliver it to Nicholas Flamel?" The eagle squeaked indignantly, grabbed the letter and took off. Harry grinned.

xxx

A week later Harry was sitting in the ice cream parlor in the Diagon Valley, eating his small portion of chocolate-flavored ice cream. The table he found was in the corner, unnoticeable to anyone on the street and completely open to anyone in the café itself. Two boys sat down near him with their own ice creams.

"Harry" said both Theo and Blaise as they sat opposite from their friend.

"Theo, Blaise." Harry smiled slightly, though the smile didn't quite reach his eyes.

"So, Harry, why the meeting?" Theo asked. Harry smirked.

"So blunt, Theo…" he chuckled.

"You don't just arrange such meetings at the risk of being busted by your family." Theo said, and Blaise nodded. "Whatever the reason, it is extremely important."

"Very well." Harry replied, his expression turning serious. "This is very important. This is about what we are going to do on September 1st." He crossed his hands. "We will not have time to discuss this in Hogwarts and the train is not private enough."

"And this café is?" Blaise asked skeptically. Harry smirked.

"Silencing spells." He replied. "Silencing spells with an illegal wand. And don't show any reaction." He warned before his friends' eyes could widen. "Now, to business. Our behavior on the first of September. We need to present ourselves as obscure elite." Both boys opposite of him raised their eyebrows. "All leaders will show up at the introduction of the first years. The leaders will be standing at the back, but they will be present and visible."

Theo and Blaise were listening intently.

"Now, the leaders will stand by themselves." Harry said. "But you will be standing beside me." Harry took a spoon and scooped a little bit of ice cream.

"Is that it?" Theo asked.

"Yes, Theo." Harry nodded. "Slytherin is all about hierarchy. Slytherin is all about unspoken rules. These groups, leaders – they are all a part of it." He grinned. "And when one discards these rules – what does it say about that person?"

"That he is too arrogant?" Theo asked.

"That he is powerful enough to do it." Harry replied, eating his ice cream. "We are children, Theo. We are eating ice creams. Most first years won't even notice it. Those who do will become our potential members."

"I thought you planned to recruit as many as possible, riding on the war." Blaise said.

"I did, at first." Harry nodded. "But it's expected of us. As I said, Dumbledore is a clever man and a dangerous opponent. We have already attracted enough attention. Now is not the time to do it. We will continue to be secretive and small group. That should at least startle him enough to give us some more quiet time."

He abruptly stood up and waved his wand over his ice-cream, which disappeared. "Goodbye. We will talk more in Hogwarts." He walked out of the building before either Blaise or Theo could do anything. Through the window they saw Harry walk away at fast pace.

"He really is something different." Blaise stated. "No one in Slytherin works against the teachers. Most just want some power over their peers and some preparation before they go to the Wizengamot meetings with their parents."

"He will not have any meetings with the Wizengamot." Theo replied. "At least, not with his parents. That's why he is building his powerbase now. That's why I joined Harry for real after the holidays. He is not just powerful magically, he thinks big and knows how to achieve his goals."

"Yeah, that's something that actually won me over as well." Blaise chuckled. "I have no idea how he persuaded the girls though. However, what worries me is how he is going to make them continue their work."

"They don't have a choice anymore." Theo shook his head. "They are spies. I actually pity them. I know that Daphnie and Tracy have their ambitions. Now that they have been buried, one step out of line and Harry will silence them."

xxx

"Hello there, Neville." Harry smiled as he sat down near said boy in the Leaky Cauldron. "Thanks for meeting me."

"Actually, I am the one who should be thanking you, Harry." Neville smiled shyly. "I don't know what I would be doing if you didn't help me."

"That's what friends are for right, Neville?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, I suppose." the Gryffindor nodded. "But, um, actually… You didn't strike me as the friendly type, Harry."

"You are correct." Harry smiled. "I am not – as you put it – the friendly type. I do not waste my time on random people, who show absolutely no promise. You do, Neville. You are a smart person. I like intelligent company."

"I only really excel in Herbology." Neville replied with pink cheeks.

"It doesn't matter how much you know, Neville." Harry said. "Intellect isn't about knowledge, it's about your way of thinking. Your mind is analytical, you just repress it outside of the greenhouses."

"But I am not good at it at all…" Neville said quietly. "I suck at practice."

"And I suck at Herbology." Harry smiled. "We all suck at something, Neville. But look at the both of us, having a good conversation about a human's capabilities." He chuckled. Neville did the same. "I just wish we could speak to each other more at Hogwarts, but with all this house rivalry going on…"

"Yeah, other Gryffindors would be mad if they saw us together." Neville sulkily admitted. "I bet Slytherins would be as well." Harry snorted.

"Snape would be mad, but he is a slimy fool." Harry said with a smile. "Other Slytherins… Unpredictable, but really, who the hell cares…" he smirked. Neville grinned. "Look, Neville, I must go. My parents and Eric will be here soon, I'll go meet them on the street. I'll see you later."

"Right, Harry, see you at Hogwarts." Neville smiled and the boys shook hands. He never saw Harry's smirk when he left the inn.

* * *

First of all, thanks to VocalAurora for proofreading yet another chapter!

Next, my ramblings:

So here's the next chapter. I must confess, that I was actually thinking along the lines of abandoning this story, but in the end decided against it. However, my previous plan for the story basically flew out of the window, so I had to make a new one. Well, I managed to do it (not that I will tell the plan to you). Enjoy (I hope).

Replies to your reviews:

rowenasheir: Well, I don't think James would actually disown Harry. Sorry, can't understand the second question. And no, I don't think anyone will allow anybody fight for the right of inheritance (wizards are not in middle ages after all).

nahte123456: It was in the first chapter. I am pretty sure I did describe it.

PaC: There is just too much to reply to, so let's just say that you made a couple of nice points and I have considered them and leave it at that.

Sabel930: Well, first about the murder. Many have written me about it. You will find out the reasons for Harry being so cruel in the end of this book. Carcass. Well, I digress, English isn't my native language. I think I will either leave it be (since I took the time to look the word up in the dictionary - it means not only a body of a dead animal, but also a contruction) or replace it with "frame".


	3. Chapter 3 Talks part two

Chapter 3. Talks, part two

The Potters and Harry arrived at the Platform 9¾ at 10.35 am with the entire Weasley clan. That was one of the rare occasions Harry allowed himself to whine, albeit silently.

The Weasleys arrived early to the Potter manor and the two families used James's car, as it was enlarged to fit more than a dozen people. For the duration of the road to London Harry had to listen to meaningless conversations between Eric and Ron and then gibberish of the Weasley twins.

Ginny Weasley was an interesting individual, Harry decided. The girl adored his brother. Knowing Eric, Harry was sure that the boy would screw everything up. He would not even notice Ginny. And the poor girl's heart would be broken. Then Harry comes and helps her… Hello spy in Gryffindor number two.

By far, the worst experience was with Mrs. Weasley. The woman was obnoxious and extremely nosy. The gargoyle tried to discredit Harry's friends by calling them children of death eaters. As if. Harry had known that little piece of information since he met Theo and Blaise. In the end Lily actually saw her elder son's annoyance and engaged Molly in a conversation about some pest or nuisance that plagued wizarding homes.

On the train Harry found himself a compartment in the beginning of the train, near to the prefects' cabin. He was positive that most of the students wouldn't have the guts to come here… except for the likes of Granger. Ten minutes into the ride the door into his compartment opened and Theo and Blasé stepped inside. Harry flicked his wand and the door closed.

"Good to see you, Theo, Blaise." Harry nodded.

"Hello, Harry." both smiled.

"We need to discuss something about the Crown." Harry said. "It's a short conversation, so let's make it quick and get onto more pleasant topics. We are going to expand somewhat… Meaning, we will need structure and headquarters."

"Structure is mostly just names for different positions…" Theo said thoughtfully. "Like leader, second in command, secretary, inner circle, outer circle…"

"Well, I'd like to do it without needless association with dark lords." Harry said dryly. "But you are right, Theo, mostly it's just a matter of names. It will be pretty easy at first. I'm the leader, you both are my seconds and then we will assign different tasks to each member. I'd like to have different names for circles. But that can wait. We will not officially accept anyone until October." he sighed. "Now, the headquarters is a nasty piece of work. We will need a couple of classrooms, located near each other that we will be able to ward and use as our base of operations. Any ideas?"

"Um, isn't it a bit risky?" Blaise asked. "To have HQ outside our dorms and common room?" he looked at Harry then at Theo. "We are no warders, what if it is found out?"

"Nothing will happen." Harry calmly said. "We will not store any documentation there. We will only use this room as our personal common and meeting room."

"Alright. We will look for it." Theo nodded.

xxx

Harry sat at the Slytherin table, finishing his drink, when Dumbledore stood up and all the food vanished. All except for Harry's goblet.

"Very well, now that we are all fed and watered, it's time for our customary announcements." Dumbledore spoke merrily. "First of all, Mr. Filch-" Harry tuned the man out after this, he had more pressing matters to think about.

"Now then, off to bed with you all!" headmaster spoke. Everyone stood up, except for Harry, who continued sipping his pumpkin juice. When the last Slytherin was about to leave the table Harry stood up as well and put his goblet, completely empty, on the table.

xxx

Harry walked into the Slytherin common room just when Snape was making his announcement. Theo and Blaise were already standing in the line of the leaders. When Harry came, they backed away. Despite Snape's talent for keeping a crowd's attention, this particular crowd was looking at Harry as he stood and looked back at them calmly. When he had enough of attention, he raised an eyebrow at his head of house who was glaring at him.

"As I said," Snape continued, "Slytherin house-"

Harry smirked. It was so easy to manipulate people when you set the stage right. And now the stage was almost set.

xxx

Daphne and Tracey were walking from Transfiguration lesson. McGonagall was ruthless with animate-to-inanimate transfiguration, half the class felt like their heads were close to blowing up, another half was successfully hiding the same. Only Harry, Theo and Blaise seemed relaxed as usual.

Second year Slytherins slowly filled the charms classroom right before the Gryffindors came. Daphne took out her notebook and found a small piece of paper in it.

 _5th floor, western corridor, classroom 5, 18.00, both ASAP_

The note slowly disappeared, not leaving even a shadow of trace. Daphne frowned. Why was this ASAP, the year had just begun.

"What was that?" Tracey asked curiously.

xxx

When Daphne and Tracey entered classroom 5 in the western corridor of the fifth floor they saw Harry already in there, surprisingly enough alone.

"No sidekicks?" Tracey asked.

"Cut the chatter." Harry said. "I need information."

"What kind of information?" Daphne asked carefully.

"The war." Harry said simply. "I want to know everything you know."

"Well, it's as it was the previous year." Daphne replied, clasping her hands behind her back.

"Yeah, same here." Tracey replied, looking at the ceiling. "Though we can't keep fighting now. We've got changes in leadership. It's Richard Danton now, sixth-year. His position is fragile at best though."

"We've got temporary leader. Our former viceroy, Linda Rockford." Daphne added. "But she is weak, everyone knows it, it's just a matter of time when her authority is challenged. "

"Thank you." Harry replied. "You are free to go. I will tell you more when I have a plan."

"Alright." both girls nodded and left.

"Tricky little snakes." Harry heard. He looked around and saw Millicent Bulstrode rose from under the table.

"I know." Harry said. "The poor fools think I wouldn't notice them lying to me."

"Think they switched sides?" Millicent asked.

"They got ambitious and started playing their own game." Harry replied. "Don't make the same mistake, Millicent." he said, walking out.

Harry was walking down the stairs back to the common room, giving everyone brave enough to look at him an icy stare. He though back to one of his most valuable assets and his secret weapon. Millicent Bulstrode was one of the most faithful spies Harry had ever had. That wasn't saying much, but still. The girl was perfect for the job. She was a child of a death eater, thus fitting perfectly into the Dark Mark, she had no ambition, aside from comfortable existence and she associated comfortable existence with freedom, which she thought Harry would give her. However, there was something else in her eyes when she looked at Harry, and he couldn't identify that something – it was irritating, but manageable.

The girl was valuable only because of that, however. She was a pureblood, that meant she had a nice little network of friends and allies. For Harry that meant a spy network. He chuckled. Most of the girl's friends were no doubt thinking that they were helping children of (former) death eaters, former elite of the Slytherin house and the crème la crème of the pureblood society. Fools. All this fancy little network was giving information to him and they didn't even suspect this. Oh, Millicent no doubt allowed a word or two slip to her groupmates, but she presented Harry with detailed reports on everything. The previous year they only exchanged information via listening charms on their quills, to make sure they were never seen together. After all, such a valuable tool could not be lost.

Now Millicent gave him so very much fresh and tasty information, that didn't add up with that of Daphne and Tracey. In fact these matching issues started in May, shortly after he heard from Millicent that the leaders started nominating their successors. What did these two have to win from this? They couldn't be nominated, so that could only mean they were involved in the power plays… And whoever their boss is, he or she wants something from him. How curious. That certainly warranted investigation. A very quiet and very thorough investigation. Perhaps it was time for him to recruit more members to his group.

xxx

In the comfort of Harry's dorm room Theo, Blaise and Harry himself sat around a small transfigured coffee table with two notebooks on it. One was titled "Basilisks", another "Harpies".

"So then, what are you going to do about it, Harry?" Blaise asked.

"Well, I personally am going to do nothing about it." Harry smirked. "But you two are going to approach these people: Rachel Borks and Alex Strum. Throw them bait. Tell them that I have information that would help them gain leadership in their respective groups."

"And what exactly is this information?" Theo looked at Harry curiously, only to receive a smirk in return.

"Oh, that's for me to know and for you to guess." Harry replied.

When the two friends of his left Harry remained seated, his expression turned thoughtful. "So many problems at once." He thought. "Davis and Greengrass decided to rebel. The war quieted down because everyone is busy fighting for leadership over their own groups. And then there are the first-years… I need the talented, one, two or three – the number doesn't matter. But how to find the talented?" Harry mused silently. Suddenly he grinned the sight was positively frightful. "Well, it seems I will just have to turn our problems into solutions. Let's get to work then."

xxx

"Have you talked to them?" Harry asked. Theo and Blaise both nodded.

"They said they would think." Blaise replied.

Harry was standing over his table, a big sheet of paper in front of him. It was divided into three sections: Basilisks, Harpies and the Dark Mark.

"Then let me thoroughly explain to you what is going on in our house, gentlemen." Harry said and motioned his friends to come over. "Linda Rockford, Harold O'Reill, Alex Strum – all want to lead the Basilisks. All are preparing their powerbases. O'Reil seems to be the one Daphne is working for. He was previously responsible for internal affairs. In May, Daphne became his deputy." he looked at the other column. "Richard Danton, Anna Woods and James Underhill struggle for leadership of Harpies. It seems Tracey is working with James Underhill, who is a friend of O'Reil. Tracey is Underhill's deputy as well." Harry paused. "That is no coincidence. Underhill and O'Reil knew that Davis and Greengrass were our spies and brought them closer to themselves. These two are to play us." Harry's look darkened. "I don't like being played. They think they can use us to gain dominance in this house. Well, let them try."

xxx

It was another potions lesson, well actually it was the first potions lesson in this year. Snape, however, looked like he already wanted to go on vacation. He was even more snarky than usual and docked points from Gryffindors for merely being present and double points for someone being absent. Harry honestly wondered if he man was a bit retarded. Who would want so many enemies?

The class was finally over and Harry left the classroom with his two friends, however he was stopped by Malfoy's voice in the corridor.

"Hey Potter!" the blond called. "Your little group's days are over. I'd watch my back if I were you." Harry's eyes narrowed. He walked to Malfoy, not at all concerned by the fool's bodyguards. Theo and Blaise had the gorillas pinned under their wands.

"Oh really, Malfoy?" Harry asked calmly. "Thanks for the warning, I guess." then he smiled warmly. "Do you know, Draco, how hard it is to repair something broken?" he asked suddenly. "I once spent half a month, trying to put the pages back into my book after it was ruined. Never accomplished it. So how is your family, I heard you had rough time after Voldemort's fall."

Malfoy's face turned scarlet. Harry smiled softly. "Are you threatening me, Potter?" he blurted.

"Oh," Harry brought his right and to his chest, "I couldn't possibly comment on this, Draco." he exclaimed. "Come, Theo, Blaise, McGonagall won't wait."

He might have just insulted Malfoy in the way the fool wouldn't even understand, but the warning did set off alarms in Harry's head. He had to check the journal he connected to the listening charm on Millicent's quill.

xxx

Later that day Harry found nothing in the journal. Which meant one thing - Millicent didn't have any information on possible attack. Well, frankly, attacking the Crown was futile and Harry made sure that every Slytherin knew it during the previous year. Nevertheless, the recruitment day was near and he couldn't risk the safety of his members, current or future. He would have to act fast.

* * *

So there's the third chapter. Thanks to my new beta Thundramon for proofreading it!


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